The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, is to ask Wicklow County Council for details of its development plan's compliance with the Strategic Planning Guidelines.
The move follows a report in Monday's Irish Times which revealed that plans for major expansion of the villages of Newtownmountkennedy (Newtown) and Kilcoole were in contravention of the guidelines.
The council is a co-signatory of the guidelines, which recommended that the population of the Dublin metropolitan area be expanded, but that development be restricted to local needs in the "Greenbelt Hinterland" area.
The guidelines identified a number of strategic towns in counties around Dublin which could develop as centres of employment in their own right. In Co Wicklow, these towns were Wicklow and Arklow.
However, while the council accepted growth in both towns, it has formulated plans to expand the towns of Newtown and Kilcoole, with plans for Ashford and Rathnew in the pipeline.
Yesterday a spokesman for the Minister confirmed that he is concerned about the council's action. The spokesman indicated that Government support for infrastructure may not be forthcoming for developments in areas not recommended.
"The Minister will be seeking a detailed report and clarification as to the compliance of the council's proposals with the provisions of the guidelines," he said.
A council spokesman maintained that the population increases were in line with the guidelines, arguing that the definition of "local need" could take in those who worked in the metropolitan area and wished to live in Newtown or Kilcoole.
